Dancing at Lughnasa - Royal Exchange Theatre

THE first time I saw this play, I can remember being totally underwhelmed by it, largely as a result of its largely sedate pace.

What a difference a production makes.

The RET has teamed up with Sheffield Theatres to create something that, thanks to Brian Friel’s script, is deeply affecting and warmly humorous.

I guarantee the audience is sure to care deeply about the characters, especially the five unmarried Irish sisters who dream of dancing at the festival of Lughnasa, their dreams taking one step closer to reality after a temperamental radio, later nicknamed Marconi, falls into their posession.

One of the high points of the evening comes when the afore mentioned siblings explode into a dance routine with a fervour that verges on the religious.

As the prim and proper Kate, Natalie Radmall-Quirke excels as the teacher who brings her draconian brand of classroom discipline home with her, consistently branding her sisters’ aching desire for hedonism inappropriate for women of their age.

Laura Pyper as Agnes, Martha Dunlea as Christina, Siobhan O’Kelly as Margaret and Rachel O’Connell as Rose prove to be inspired pieces of casting, with all five actresses immersing themselves totally and effortlessly into their respective roles.

They’re all bright and engaging personalities and you’ll find yourselves hoping their lives don’t simply end in domestic drudgery.

This lay may be set in rural Ireland in the 1930s and yet it feels modern and fresh.

Frank Laverty as the enigmatic Jack is also highly engaging, bringing to life a character with plenty of hidden depths, a character fresh from 25 years of missionary work in Africa and seemingly lured away by the ask no questions spiritualism of the Catholic church.

Only an eejit would miss this.

Until November 8.

Tickets are available from 0161 833 9833 and you can also book online at www.royalexchange.co.uk.

Star rating - 4.5 out of 5.

Photo by Johan Persson.